Recently viral Buga, Colombia, "alien" metal balls

[JMartJr]

A new trait the ball seems to have is that water instantly evaporates when it comes into contact with the ball (11:17), which they demonstrate by pouring water out of a plastic cup and some steam being released upon contact (completely ignoring that a bunch of water isn't evaporating)

Also interesting that they touch the sphere to show it's not hot after water evaporates

Presumably the water in the cells of your fingers is OK...

 

[Mendel]

blasting it with the blowtorch

more likely they sent some current through it to see if it would float

 

[FatPhil]

A new trait the ball seems to have is that water instantly evaporates when it comes into contact with the ball (11:17), which they demonstrate by pouring water out of a plastic cup and some steam being released upon contact (completely ignoring that a bunch of water isn't evaporating)

As somoene who spends many hours a week in a sauna, that doesn't look like steam coming off something hot, that looks like steam being blown onto something non-hot. The lack of lustre makes things less clear, but I'd even say at times it looks like it's cold and steam has condensed upon it, misting it up. Not speaking spanish, I presume his conceit, with all the touching that takes place, is that this object magically throws off steam while not hot. However, that breaks the laws of thermodynamics as the latent heat of evaporation needs to come from somewhere, so there would be an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary evidence. However, that evidence is far from persuasive, not least because the steam sometimes seems to simply waft past the sides of the sphere as if it's unrelated to the water being poured on the top, as if it's coming out of a nozzle off-camera.

 

[NorCal Dave]

that doesn't look like steam coming off something hot, that looks like steam being blown onto something non-hot.

Agreed. It looks like vapor being blown up from behind, not the waters she's pouring getting vaporized.

Then we have Maussan hinting at the whole point of this, the German Company will try to reverse engineer the "secrets" of the ball:

It'll be difficult, but once they do it, that advanced technology will find its way into the German Company's newest metal detecting/dowsing gizmos. Similar to the doodlebugs filled with alien technology from a supposed UFO that were sold to find oil in the '40s era Southwest. There doesn't seem to be a direct translation in Spanish for doodlebugs, maybe chingadera!

 

[JMartJr]

There doesn't seem to be a direct translation in Spanish for doodlebugs, maybe chingadera!

Well, let's dig into that...

"Doodlebug" is a slang name for ant lion larva, these guys:

They lie buried at the apex of those inverted cones and eat ants and bugs that fall in.

According to the resource I found for all things ant lion, https://www.antlionpit.com/language.html, the Mexican Spanish slang for them is... drum roll...

Torito! (Little Bull, I'm guessing because the mandibles look somewhat like horns.)

But "chingadera" would be better for the device... unless they give it horns...

 

[John J.]

I'm guessing the ball is made from two near-hemispheres joined at, or near, the "equator".
Reminds me a bit of a metal world globe my family had when I was a child, maybe a bit smaller than the Columbian ball.

The rim of each of the globe's hemispheres was contoured, enabling the two halves to mate (and also giving each half additional rigidity) something like this, IIRC:

Making and decorating a metal ball like the one shown by German Company of Buga might not be that costly, though it looks like some effort has been put into it.

Edited to add:
The perforated band around the equator of the sphere looks a little like the rim of a small spoked bicycle wheel, though perhaps without the tyre retainer walls. On balance, it was probably easier for the ball's maker to simply drill holes.

 

[NorCal Dave]

The perforated band around the equator of the sphere looks a little like the rim of a small spoked bicycle wheel, though perhaps without the tyre retainer walls. On balance, it was probably easier for the ball's maker to simply drill holes.

Wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be 2 metal salad bowels connected to a wheel rim.

 

[Calter]

They seem to have done an X-Ray analysis of the sphere, haven't watched this whole thing either so I can't comment on it (also in spanish) but maybe people here are interested


Source: https://youtu.be/mhwgvu6GbMA?si=FWfWoddxAbj4QB_M&t=686

 

[MapperGuy]

So nobody in or related to the Colombian government has shown any interest in this?
Seems like they might be interested.
A potentially valuable item, a potentially dangerous item, in the hands of people who might do something to it that would reduce its value or get themselves killed?
Any public comment for anyone in a official position?

 

[John J.]

They seem to have done an X-Ray analysis of the sphere

Why don't they just open it, with cameras running?
I suspect it's because "German Company" know there's nothing interesting inside.

In another thread, I (perhaps bad-temperedly) said that an associate of Jaime Maussan (and by extension the Maussan team) had invented a new field of Woo, "pseudo radiology"; this might be another example.

(I'll qualify what I wrote above; there can't be much dense material in the equatorial band because none of the holes on the far side are obscured).

Like my old globe, I wouldn't be too surprised if the two halves could be easily prized apart and whatever you wanted put inside.

 

[Mendel]

So nobody in or related to the Colombian government has shown any interest in this?
Seems like they might be interested.

At least they didn't build it from dead people this time.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

in this video

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92mpJFSLVTA


- Part of the audio we first hear at 0:28 is cloned & repeated at 0:46, 1:26, 1:31 & 1:58. It sounds like a female speaking briefly in the background and each time it's heard it pans from right to left identically. Its 100% the same audio clip being repeated, 5 times in total. It appears to me to be clearly on a separate audio track to the crickets and the main female narration.
- The overall audio track definitely doesn't match the video we're watching because it seamlessly continues despite multiple camera jump-cuts.

What I was hearing was children's voices in the background that repeat on a loop. Yet there's also what sounds like a small four stroke engine passing by at one point, and at another point what may be a chattering bird.

 

[NorCal Dave]

I suspect it's because "German Company" know there's nothing interesting inside.

John, you should know better by now! They can't open it on camera because it's empty, but because others will see the alien technology inside, which the German Co. will be making available in future dowsing equipment.

I'm sure preorders are imminent.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

The airborne sphere... This is a candidate. I can't downlead the photos, so I'm forced to give a link.

Customized Hanging Inflatable Mirror Ball / Inflatable Reflective Balloon / Air Sealed PVC Balloons Toys

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/3256804683274950.html?gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt

I think the plastic is pretty thick. Not yoga ball thick, but thicker than a typical balloon; which would give these things some heft.

 

[JMartJr]

I can't downlead the photos, so I'm forced to give a link.

I did a couple of screen grabs...

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

The sphere that they show in the lab...

I don't think we have to speculate about it being something fabricated from parts such as salad bowls or steel rims. It could simply be a custom made stainless steel sphere with laser engraving.

How metal spheres are made



Laser engraving on a curved surface



Metal sphere's are made of separate panels that are welded together; the central belt, made of heavier gauge steel, could be fabricated and added in easily.

There are thousands of fabricators across the Flat Earth who could easily make something like this. Hobbyists could make it.

 

[JMartJr]

I think it is worth remembering that we are very likely looking at a lightweight "flying model" for the distant and flying shots, and what the FX guys would call a "hero model," with all the details and engraving, for close ups. The hero model would likely be metal, as it has to LOOK LIKE metal -- but the distant model could be a spray-painted beach-ball or the like.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

We had a thread about this kind of thing... Meaning something hanging below a drone. This demonstration convinced me.

https://www.metabunk.org/threads/or...er-in-georgia-usa-7-3-2023.13202/#post-303352

 

[FatPhil]

They seem to have done an X-Ray analysis of the sphere, haven't watched this whole thing either so I can't comment on it (also in spanish) but maybe people here are interested

Source: https://youtu.be/mhwgvu6GbMA?si=FWfWoddxAbj4QB_M&t=686

What are they saying at 11:58-12:17?
I recognise the word "interior" as they show an X-ray, but those 12+4 dots are precisely the engraving on the outside, so not the interior at all.

Maybe they're saying "there's no detectable structure in the interior", in which case the narrative changes from "we're peddlers of bullshit" to "the interesting thing about this artefact is that there's nothing interesting about it". Deep joy.

EDIT: a few seconds after I paused/posted, after saying something about the weight, they then return to what sounds like "16 points in the nucleus", so I'm guessing it's the former. Imagine my surprise.

EDIT2:

Asimismo, se detectaron una serie de 16 puntos que rodean al núcleo. Esto se trataría de microesferas.

(via https://downsub.com/?url=https://youtu.be/mhwgvu6GbMA )
And quoth Deepl: "In addition, a series of 16 dots were detected surrounding the core. These would be microspheres."
So it's confirmed, he's so [censorred for politeness] that he thinks that which is clearly visible on the surface is in the interior.

 

[Ravi]

The "sphere" is obviously also not very spherical at all. Far from it. But hey, perhaps not all aliens are good craftsmen, can't blame em.

Two salad bowls it is.

By the way, I saw this artefact on Reddit's "whatisthisthing" sub, and it reminded me of this thread..

link (spoiler, it is a movie prop)

 

[Ann K]

The thing resembles in size the balls that are placed on wires to make them visible to aircraft. They are usually painted red or orange for greater visibility. I don't know how they're usually attached but I would assume that they come as two halves that are then fastened around the wire. It hasn't escaped me that the video shows a large tower on the hilltop in the background holding wires that seem to be traversing a fairly long distance over a valley, which makes me wonder if the sphere began its "mysterious" phase after being looted from a power line building site and given its decorative surface.

 

[Calter]

I was checking for a close up of the top of the sphere to overlay it with the X-Ray, and I gotta say the aliens are pretty sloppy with their machinery

Pretty much every bolt/circle is deformed in some way or another.

but those 12+4 dots are precisely the engraving on the outside, so not the interior at all.

Just to nail down this point

 

[John J.]

I was checking for a close up of the top of the sphere to overlay it with the X-Ray

Hats off to @FatPhil and @Calter for demonstrating that the ball's "guardians" appear to be passing off surface details as internal structures.

I'm not an electronics engineer, but strangely I do feel qualified to say that a carved/ etched design that bears some resemblance to a printed circuit board, with a square motif at the centre which presumably represents an integrated circuit/ silicon chip, is unlikely to be a functional feature.

If the ball is of ETI origin, it's reassuring that its designers place high symbolic value on technology we've had since the 1970s.

By the way, I saw this artefact on Reddit's "whatisthisthing" sub, and it reminded me of this thread..
...(spoiler, it is a movie prop)

Ah, that's what THEY want us to think! We need to reject sensible and checkable findings orthodoxy like Galileo did!

This is clearly a knuckleduster for the defence of small tridactyls. Or maybe a tool for prising bicycle tyres off their rims.
Or both.
With a lack of heel bones, which would make standing difficult, it makes sense that Maussan's goblins used bicycles, and the cycle routes of the Nazca culture, early Common Era, might have been littered with small stones as they had yet to invent the street sweeper machine.

Until Maussan releases x-ray images, properly interpreted by him, a dentist, some Russian blokes and a guy with qualifications in Peruvian (or in this case maybe Columbian) tourism, who are we to judge?

 

[Ravi]

Practically the "engraving" is done by masking and sand blasting the cut out. You can see the grainy pattern in the middle of the patters/rows for instance. It works also great in glass fyi. It is simple as can be: print a design, cut out (by hand or a router) and stick it to your salad bowl. Heck, one can also just freehand start cutting with a scalpel knife.
The sandblasting units can be found online in various sizes and various budgets, if your want to see how they technically operate.
The same technique is used in making headstones for graves.

 

[jdog]

I'm not an electronics engineer, but strangely I do feel qualified to say that a carved/ etched design that bears some resemblance to a printed circuit board, with a square motif at the centre which presumably represents an integrated circuit/ silicon chip, is unlikely to be a functional feature.

If the ball is of ETI origin, it's reassuring that its designers place high symbolic value on technology we've had since the 1970s.

Of course, the common claim is that such technology came into our possession in 1947 and humans just reverse-engineered it. But I would have expected alien-tegrated circuitry to be a bit finer scale; this is close to meter-resolution than nanometer-resolution.

 

[Kyle Ferriter]

Do we know what the bottom of it looks like? Have they shown a full 360º view? A continuous video showing all angles on it? All the up-close imagery I've seen is showing the top part with the engraving on it. What about the other side?

I just searched "metal sphere decoration" on Ebay and this is the first result:

Source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/3654775154...=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

First thing I thought of when I saw the ball was a large jingle bell with some decorative engravings on it.

e.g.:

Source: https://www.vintage-character.com/products/copy-of-oversized-gold-sleigh-jingle-bell-large

There's also buoys:

Source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/385352293648

And ground visibility markers for utilities:

Source: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00011108/

And aerial cable markers:

Source: https://pr-tech.com/product/spanguard-al-high-temperature-marker/

 

[Mendel]

I'm not an electronics engineer, but strangely I do feel qualified to say that a carved/ etched design that bears some resemblance to a printed circuit board, with a square motif at the centre which presumably represents an integrated circuit/ silicon chip, is unlikely to be a functional feature.

It looks more cargo-cult-ish than anything else.

 

[MonkeeSage]

I was checking for a close up of the top of the sphere to overlay it with the X-Ray, and I gotta say the aliens are pretty sloppy with their machinery

In addition to the poorly done etching, those look like brass pins that have been peened over, and several misses from a cross-peen hammer* left gouges to the left and bottom left near the pins. The aliens need to step up their fabrication game, this looks worse than most weekend garage hobby projects on youtube.

* Cross-peen hammer

 

[FatPhil]

Hats off to @Calter for demonstrating that the ball's "guardians" appear to be passing off surface details as internal structures.

I kinda think the guy who first said "those 12+4 dots are precisely the engraving on the outside, so not the interior at all" did the majority of the legwork on that point.

 

[John J.]

I kinda think the guy who first said "those 12+4 dots are precisely the engraving on the outside, so not the interior at all" did the majority of the legwork on that point.

I have put aside a chocolate digestive for that insightful person, should they ever be identified.
(And edited my post #63).

 

[JJB]

Maussan. Now that is a red flag if I ever saw one!

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

This seems to be generic motif. Of course it's an artsy version of a printed circuit board.


Note the similarity with the pattern below



Laser engravers are used by hobbyists to make actual pcbs.

 

[Mendel]

Of course it's an artsy version of a printed circuit board.

if by "artsy" you mean "non-functional"
• two different widths of traces
• traces overlapping
• circuit traces etched out, in a real PCB they're left standing
• PCB uses insulator as substrate, using metal defeats the purpose
• black color applied to make it look "vintage"

that's why I compared it to cargo cult items, which are non-functional imitations of functional items. In this case, it would prove that this "alien technology" is actually greatly less sophisticated than ours.

 

[Ravi]

if by "artsy" you mean "non-functional"
• two different widths of traces
• traces overlapping
• circuit traces etched out, in a real PCB they're left standing
• PCB uses insulator as substrate, using metal defeats the purpose
• black color applied to make it look "vintage"

that's why I compared it to cargo cult items, which are non-functional imitations of functional items. In this case, it would prove that this "alien technology" is actually greatly less sophisticated than ours.

Bit of steam punk even. I think they also went and played an afternoon of kickball with it in the yard.
Nothing indicates that the sphere has any electrical functionality. The copper "electrodes" are not even insulated from the (conductive) metal sphere.

 

[jackfrostvc]

Looking at how rough the engraving on that ball is, I can only presume the aliens outsourced the engraving to the lowest bidder on Fiverr

 

[JMartJr]

if by "artsy" you mean "non-functional"

Depends on what the intended function is. If it's function is to make the ball look less boring, and more technologicalish, then I guess function achieved!

But if this is their "hero model," they should have put more effort in, they should never have let the camera get that close to this model. This one is good enough to be seen sitting on the bench in a medium shot with a couple of actors messing with it, but not for a close-up.

 

[NorCal Dave]

The ball is clearly a prop. A hollow contraption with no internal parts, some meaningless, nonfunctional etchings and a sketchy backstory, likely intended to help sell dowsing equipment. I'd just like to ask our tridactyl proponents what they think of their boy Jamie getting in on this action:

I wonder if some of the same X ray guys worked on this ball?

 

[John J.]

The ball is clearly a prop. A hollow contraption with no internal parts, some meaningless, nonfunctional etchings and a sketchy backstory, likely intended to help sell dowsing equipment. I'd just like to ask our tridactyl proponents what they think of their boy Jamie getting in on this action:

As with the tridactyl circus, we have Maussan involved with a publicity/ click- grabbing set of extraordinary claims, combined with "technical investigations" by the claimants or their confederates, whose results are, *ahem*, questionable.
Footage apparently showing water being poured on the sphere, steam evaporating but the sphere being cool enough to touch, is just silly. Who decided to do that? Why?

I don't know if the German Company team have released much in the way of their findings; we've seen some indication of weight.

What they should be able to share, now (if reasonable, elementary investigations have been performed) might include:

(1) Photos, in good resolution, taken from a number of angles so that the whole surface of the sphere is imaged
(2) Precise dimensions of the sphere and all surface features; any deviation from true sphericity, volume
(3) Exact weight, density. Centre of gravity.
(4) An initial opinion from a reputable, independent metallurgist/ materials scientist.
(5) Conductive, magnetic properties
(6) An estimate of surface hardness: What can the surface be scratched by?
If a small amount of material can be removed (which it almost certainly could be), identification of the material through spectroscopy- or at least an estimate of melting point.
If it is claimed the sphere cannot be scratched/ have material removed, the team have immediate, testable proof- that they should be confident would be supported by anyone else performing the same investigation- that the sphere is something unusual. If the surface cannot be superficially damaged, the team can have no fear that other investigators would damage it.
Any reluctance to allow other investigators to examine the sphere would be suspect.
(7) There seem to be holes around the circumference. Are they holes? If so, how far can a probe be introduced before resistance is encountered?
If the sphere is held up to the light, can light pass through holes on the far side and be seen through holes on the near side?
(8) Clear imaging of the "symbols" on the sphere.
It is not plausible that German Company, or Maussan's tridactyl team, includes palaeographers/ semioticians/ cryptographers/ others who might have some chance of deriving any information- or assessing whether the symbols are likely to be from a representational system.
(9) I guess we could throw in Geiger counter readings, UFO enthusiasts like Geiger counter readings. But ensure that the operator knows what they're doing.

We could also ask, have German Company and/or their trade contacts and suppliers the ability to make a similar sphere?
I have a feeling the answer is "yes".

Another question might be, if German Company staff really believe they have an extraterrestrial item, what on Earth leads them to believe that they are appropriate people to investigate it? They appear to run a small workshop making electronic novelties, like hobbyist metal detectors.

 

[Mendel]

What they should be able to share, now (if reasonable, elementary investigations have been performed) might include:

without provenance, it's not interesting

what I want to see is 3rd party confirmation that this garden ornament can actually do something interesting

 

[JMartJr]

6) An estimate of surface hardness: What can the surface be scratched by?

Just to glance at it, I'm going to go with "Almost anything."

If it is claimed the sphere cannot be scratched/ have material removed, the team have immediate, testable proof- that they should be confident would be supported by anyone else performing the same investigation...

That ship has sailed, that claim is no longer available... as it is already quite extensively scratched...